New novel puts the Riddler in Tim Burton’s Batman universe

One of the biggest What ifs in comic book movie history is Tim Burton’s abandoned third Batman movie. We know a little bit about Batman Continues, like Michelle Pfeiffer set to reprise Catwoman, the director eyeing Robin Williams to play the Riddler and the emergence of Two-Face. But considering Burton wasn’t really making McDonald’s-friendly Batman movies, he would leave and make us suffer through Batman Forever. But a new book arriving later this year will put readers back in Tim Burton’s Gotham, wondering what might have happened had things worked out for Batman Continues.

Titled Batman: Revolution, author John Jackson Miller will explore the birth of the Riddler (aka Norman Pinkus) as he seeks to get proper recognition for his own crime-fighting abilities, Batman be damned. Last year, Miller released Batman: Resurrection, a midquel set between Batman and Batman Returns that is well worth the read for those that lean towards the Tim Burton version of the stories.

Batman: Revolution takes place on the brink of the Fourth of July in the wake of The Joker’s impact on Gotham in shambles. While preparations are made by Max Schreck to commemorate the occasion, protests rock Gotham’s streets. Here is a partial synopsis of Batman: Revolution: “No one is experiencing the struggle between Gotham’s optimism and doubt more than Norman Pinkus. The Gotham Globe’s humble copy boy, he’s the unacknowledged mastermind behind the newspaper’s mega-popular Riddle Me This word puzzles. But Norman harbors a secret. He is the smartest man in Gotham City, using his prodigious skills to solve crimes anonymously for years via the police tip line—before Batman even knows there’s a crime to solve. While neither fame nor fortune finds Norman, he believes in the promise of Gotham and what’s right . . . until he doesn’t. The man no one notices watches time and again as the city and its leaders cast their eyes high above the rooftops toward Batman. Dejected and unappreciated, Norman devises a scheme: With the help of dangerous new friends, he exploits the simmering tensions of the long hot summer to draw the Caped Crusader into a volatile game of riddles to crown Gotham’s true savior. As they clash, Norman—now known as The Riddler—and Batman will uncover hidden secrets about Gotham’s past that will have dire consequences for the city’s future.”

Considering how well Miller handled Burton’s universe with Resurrection, I’m really excited to see what he does with a true sequel, pitting Batman against the Riddler in a way we’ve only been able to imagine in the post-Burton eras. Batman: Revolution hits shelves on October 28th.

Will you be picking up Batman: Resurrection? What did you think of Miller’s previous novel?

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